Stephen R. Donaldson

For a variety of reasons, my books struck the marketplace like a thunderclap; and one of those reasons was that there were so few alternatives available. Readers who loved Tolkien, and who were not satisfied by Terry Brooks, had nowhere else to turn.

American Writer

Steven Pinker

I don't think there was a thunderclap or a divine spark that suddenly made one species smart. You can see, in our ancestors, there was a gradual expansion of the brain; there was an expansion of the complexity of tools.

Canadian Scientist

Martin Dempsey

Sometimes we wait for thunderclaps, drumrolls, and clarion calls to alert us to what's important when, actually, it's most often the subtle and persistent signals around us that make the most difference.

American General

Mary H.K. Choi

Avatar' is staggering. It's seismic. Evolutionarily speaking, it is cladogenesis in a thunderclap.

South Korean Author

Refers specifically to the sudden loud sound during storms, often after lightning.

Sound of Storm

Evokes images of power and force, can imply something overwhelming.

Expresses Power

Used literally in discussions about weather or vividly describing scenes in literature.

Literal Use

Used metaphorically for a sudden, shocking event or piece of news.

Metaphor for Shock

Often used in a figurative sense to describe non-audible but impactful events.

Figurative Speech

Implies that something happened very suddenly and was not anticipated.

Unexpectedness

Refers to events that create a large ripple effect or have significant consequences.

Impactful Events

In current times, often used to describe political or social disturbances.

Modern Usage

Can be used to stress the strong and immediate effects of a specific action.

Action Consequences

 and as the clouds got about halfway over the valley, so help me God, every single animal in that place stopped making noise at the same time. This electric hush, as if they could sense what was about to happen. And then the clouds came over us, and then, boom! This massive thunderclap, and sheets of rain.

Eric Whitacre: Virtual...

 Fahrenheit this extreme heat creates the booming thunderclap as excessive pressure within the lightning path expands at supersonic rates on return strokes in the u.s. lightning occurs most often in Florida it's hot moist

Thunderclap